Weiss: A Storm Cloud Looms Over Older Americans Month

Two years after President John F. Kennedy had formally designated May as “Senior Citizens Month” at a meeting of the National Council of Senior Citizens in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Older Americans Act into law, formally declaring May as Older Americans Month. When Kennedy first proclaimed May as Older American’s Month, there were just 17 million Americans who had reached age 65. According to the recently released 2017 Profile of Older Americans, one in seven Americans are 65 or older, and just two years from now, this demographic group’s numbers will skyrocket to 56 million people.

Nothing but Empty Words

Since Kennedy’s inaugural proclamation, all presidents have proclaimed the month of May as Older American’s Month. Not surprisingly President Donald J. Trump recently proclaimed May as Older Americans Month, too, calling upon “all Americans to honor our elders, acknowledge their contributions, care for those in need, and reaffirm our country’s commitment to older Americans this month and throughout the year.”

Trump even touted his Administration’s priorities on fighting on the behalf of the nation’s older Americans. “The Department of Justice, for example, is focused on protecting seniors from fraud and abuse. My Administration is also committed to protecting the Social Security system so that seniors who have contributed to the system can receive benefits from it. We are also dedicated to improving healthcare, including by increasing the quality of care our veterans receive through the Department of Veterans Affairs and by lowering prescription drug prices for millions of Americans.”

But do Trump’s words in his April 30th resolution to proclaim May as Older Americans Month, match his past political actions. Not so.

Just almost three months ago the President released his 2019 budget and this fiscal blueprint did not show a commitment to aging programs and services.

Draconian Cuts in 2019 Trump Budget

Although Trump’s 2019 budget proposal was “Dead on Arrival” on Capitol Hill, as reported in my February 18, 2018 Commentary, his budgetary wish list of cuts would have been devastating to many programs and services for older Americans, as detailed by a policy analysis performed by the Washington, DC.-based National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM).

Trump’s budget included $1.4 trillion in Medicaid cuts, $490 billion in Medicare cuts, and repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Breaking his campaign promise not to touch Social Security, Trump called for steep cuts up to $64 billion from the Social Security Disability Insurance program.

Trump’s budget proposal also called for over $500 billion in cuts to Medicare, many of these savings coming from cuts to Medicare providers and suppliers. This was another campaign promise broken.

Trump’s budget cuts would have drastically impacted Medicare’s spending on prescription benefits and beneficiary costs, too. It would save $210 million over 10 years by eliminating the cost-sharing on generic drugs for low-income beneficiaries.

Not surprisingly, Medicaid was not immune to Trump’s 2019 budget cuts. He called for changing the structure of the program into either a per capita cap or Medicaid block grant, with a goal of giving states more flexibility of managing their programs. Through 2028, the president’s budget would cut $1.4 trillion from the Medicaid program through repealing the Affordable Care Act, and restructuring the program.

Trump’s budget proposal also calls for the elimination of the Older Americans Act Title V Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). The program, funded at $400 million in FY 2017. provides job training to nearly 70,000 low-income older adults each year.

Community Services Block Grants ($715 million), the Community Development Block

Grant ($3 billion) and the Social Services Block Grant ($1.7 billion) programs were also targeted to be eliminated. Some Meals on Wheels programs rely on funding from these federal programs, in addition to OAA funding, to deliver nutritious meals to at-risk seniors.

Trump also called for the elimination of funding to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, cutting assistance for heating and fuel costs to low-income seniors. It would have also eliminated funding for The Senior Corps programs including the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions. These programs enable seniors to remain active and engaged in their communities, serving neighbors of all ages, with the benefit of enhancing their health and wellbeing.

Finally, research into cancer, Alzheimer’s Parkinson’s and other diseases affecting older persons would be negatively impacted with $ 46 million in funding cuts to National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health.

Also reported in my December 10, 2018 Commentary, Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress successfully passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, that was projected to add $1.5 billion to the nation’s deficit over the next decade. Under the 2010 “pay-as-you-go” law, that triggers automatic spending cuts to domestic programs when the nation’s deficit increases, the GOP’s sweeping tax plan (that Trump strongly supported) would have triggered automatic spending cuts to federal programs, including a $25 billion cut to Medicare in 2018 alone. But vigorous lobbying by AARP and NCPSSM, along with a long-list of other aging, health care, and union groups, narrowly averted the draconian cuts by convincing the House and the Senate to waive them as part of a temporary spending bill to prevent a government shutdown.

Strengthening Federal Assistance to Seniors

When President Johnson signed the Older Americans Act into law on July 14, 1965, to raise the awareness of the problems facing seniors and to honor them, he formally proclaimed the month of May as Older Americans Month.

This year’s Older Americans Month is celebrated in every community across the nation as Medicare, Medicaid and Older Americans Act programs are under fierce legislative attack by President Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress.

With the 2018 mid-term elections just six months away, older voters can send a message to Capitol Hill – Strengthen Social Security, Medicare, and the Older Americans Act, expand Medicaid, and bring back health insurance to millions of Americans who lost their coverage because of the Republican tax plan that repealed key provisions of Obamacare.

With a Democratic-controlled Congress, next year’s theme for the Older Americans Month, might be “Strengthening Federal Assistance to Seniors.”

Herb Weiss, LRI’12, is a Pawtucket writer covering aging, healthcare and medical issues. To purchase Taking Charge: Collected Stories on Aging Boldly, a collection of 79 of his weekly commentaries, go to herbweiss.com.